How it was with Maho
by narutorox711
Summary: Maho and her brother come back to Kohona after years away to finish their last year of school. Will they make friends with the right people?
1. Chapter 1

Hello Hello! Here's my faaavourite one I've written so far, yes there are twins in it, art imitates life.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters, but you knew that.

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"Hello, Maho. Why are you late?" Iruka asked. A girl with long dark hair and even darker eyes looked at her teacher and took a seat next to a red haired kid. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I got lost." She offered as an excuse. Iruka sighed. Those years of her being away had done wonders for her talent and knowledge, but she was still the same. She wore the same three bracelets around her wrist as she had when he'd last seen her five years ago, cryptic reminders of her past.

"Nice to see you haven't changed. As I was saying, there are several types of..." Maho tuned out her teacher, leaning back in the bench. Thank god this was her last year, one more in school and she'd flip. At least she was here now. School in Iwa was way harder than anything Kohona could ever throw at her. This year would be long, but it would be easy. She let out a breathy sigh as Iruka handed sheets out. Maho quickly calculated by the number of sheets that they would have to be working in partners.

"You'll be working in partners until class ends." Iruka said as he sat at his desk in the front and made notes. Maho pulled a pen out of her bag, which was purple in contrast to her dark ninja capris and black t-shirt, and wrote her name on the sheet.

"I'm Maho," she said to her partner. "What's your name?"

"Gaara." Was all he said. She gave a nod and wrote his name next to hers. She narrowed her eyes at the sheet, a complicated math problem involving several unknown variables.

"Are you any good at this stuff?" She asked. Gaara stared at her. Who did she think she was? Talking to him like he was like everyone else. She was leaning her head on her hand, elbow on the table. He saw the name 'Kankurou' written right below her wrist, partially covered by her bracelets. She continued talking, despite her partner's silence. "We did these things all last year where I'm from." She wrote down a few figures and a formula that Gaara recognized. She kept writing until she pulled out a calculator, found her answer, and wrote it down. She put her pen back in her bag and leaned back into the bench, closing her eyes.

"Who wrote that on your wrist?" Gaara asked her.

"A boy I sat next to in my last class. He wrote it so that I'd remember that he wanted to eat lunch with me." She kept her eyes closed before opening them to look at Gaara.

"Was he dressed in black and wearing make-up?" Maho grinned at him and nodded.

"Although, I think he uses puppets to fight, so it's a type of paint. But yes, it looks like he's wearing his girlfriend's purple lipstick all over."

"That's my brother."

"Really? So you have a sister, too."

"Yes."

"Yeah, Kankurou talked about her. She sounds, a little overbearing." Gaara let the corners of his mouth turn up, not entirely a smile but the closest thing he had to it. This girl, she wasn't that bad after all.

"I've got a brother too, Mori. He's my twin, but I'm older by twelve minutes." Maho looked at her watch. "He's very different from me, though."

"Then I probably wouldn't like him." Maho smiled at Gaara, catching what he meant. They heard the bell ring, telling them that lunch was about to begin.

"Oh, I see you two have met." Kankurou said as Maho and Gaara sat down at the picnic bench.

"Same goes for you." Maho said as she nodded to her brother who was sitting next to Kankurou.

"What do you mean?" Kankurou asked.

"That's my sister," Mori said as he opened his bento box Maho made him.

"Well, that's my brother!" Kankurou said, pointing to Gaara.

"And here comes our sister," Gaara said as a blonde girl who could only be Temari sat down next to Gaara.

"Well, it's like a family reunion here." Mori said sarcastically.

"Sort of," Temari said "Who're you two?" She asked the boy across from her and the girl on the other side of Gaara.

"I'm Mori, that's my sister Maho."

"Yeah, and I invited them both to lunch. Well, actually, I met her first period and him second and I didn't know they were brother and sister, so...yeah." Kankurou bit into one of his cookies that Temari had made that morning. They tasted like shit.

"Where are you guys from?" Temari asked. Maho was the prettiest girl she'd ever seen, and Mori made Shikamaru look like ground beef. Temari had never seen them before, so they must not be from here.

"From everywhere," Maho said vacantly. She was running her finger along the wood of the table, tempting fate to give her a splinter.

"Uh," Mori thought quickly in an attempt to make up for his sister's vagueness. "We were born in suna, raised here until we were eight, then we went around. We spent the last three years in Iwa until we came back here to finish our last year."

"We're from suna too," Kankurou said. "Maybe we were born in the same hospital."

"Possibly," Maho said. Gaara's leg moved next to hers under the table. She kept her leg there though, hoping he wouldn't move his. He was warm, and it was way colder here than she remembered.

"Did your parents die?" Temari asked

"Yeah." Maho replied

"I'm sorry." Temari looked at her face paint covered brother who looked back at her. Maho and Mori were like them in that way.

"Don't be," Maho chucked her apple core into some nearby bushes. "We killed our mom when we were born and I killed our dad when we were seven."

"That's...not unheard of." Kankuro said, unphased. Maho smiled at him. Kankuro cleared his throat. "So what are you good at?" He asked. "What sorts of techniques do you guys have?" Maho thought for a moment to think of how to answer the question.

"I'm good at Genjutsu, I guess," She shrugged her shoulders. "and he's handy with a band-aid. Oh, and we like pursuing and evading capture, that's nearly all we did in Iwa."

"So Kankurou, are you a puppet-guy or do you just like wearing Temari's make-up?" Mori asked as he flicked one of Kankurou's cat ears.

"Of course I use puppets, and it's face paint, not make up." Kankurou looked annoyed. "how'd you know?"

"Our uncle had puppets, he made one for Maho once. She was really good at it, but she wanted to do genjutsu stuff instead, so she gave it back. It had a cool name too, what was its name?"

"Karasu," Maho said.

"No way. I have a puppet named Karasu." Kankurou absently jiggled his leg as Maho gave a 'that's kind of strange' look to her brother. Another bell, this time signalling that there were five minutes left until they'd have to be in their third period classes.

"what do you have next, Maho?" Mori asked his sister. Maho checked her timetable and everyone else grabbed theirs.

"I've got Weaponry for third and Genjutsu for fourth." She said tucking her paper back into her back pocket.

"so do I," Gaara said,

"Awesome! I've got Genjutsu with you! Now I don't have to worry." Mori said, a satisfied smile on his face.

"I also have genjutsu fourth." Temari said.

"Hey, so do I." Kankurou added.

"Then I'll see you guys later, coming Gaara?" Maho asked

"Yeah," Gaara got up and followed Maho back to the academy to sit through three hours of mind numbing lectures. At least Maho would be there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter, hope it's okay )**

**This is written mainly for the only person who liked it. Besides me and my dog. **

**Oh, and a fun fact? Maho is completely made up, but Mori is partially based on my brother. Shocking? Perhaps.**

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**"Maho, please pay attention." **

**Her eyes scanned over the teacher quickly. That was some attitude he had, talking to her. He was, what, 23, and still a chunnin? Absolutely pathetic, no wonder he was stuck teaching this useless course. Maho stared blankly ahead, passing her desk partner back a note. She didn't get to sit with Gaara, they sat in alphabetical order by last name, so she sat beside a boy with a dog and red fang marks on his cheeks. The dog, whose name she had gathered to be Akamaru, was sitting in her lap upon request. **

**From an early age, Maho had found that she could control people, no jutsu required. She was just the kind of girl whose pen you would pick up, or for whom you would appologize for grazing her elbow. It came in handy when you were in a cold classroom and needed a lap warmer.**

**Finally, a break in the incessant blabbering. **

**"You have to be new here, what's your name?" The boy asked her. **

**"Maho."**

**"Where're you from?" **

**"I was going to school in iwa. This is akamaru, right?"**

**"Yeah,"**

**"Who're you?" The boy smiled at her, canines glinting. **

**"Inzuyaka Kiba."**

**"I'm glad to know someone here with a dog."**

**"I'm glad to know the prettiest girl in Kohona."**

**"Go to hell." Kiba's mouth hung open as Maho leaned back in her seat, hands behind her head, eyes closed.**

**"Maho, I'm tired of talking to you..." **

**"Then don't."**

**"You may leave now."**

**"See you tomorrow, sensei." Maho winked at Gaara, who'd turned in his seat to watch her leave, and walked calmly out of the classroom. Upon closing the door, she threw her book and screamed.**

**"Oh," She sighed. "It hurts to live today."**

**"And that would've hurt it if had hit anyone." Maho whipped around to see a very tall jounin with a mask and grey hair carrying a dirty novel. She deduced that he was a teacher here, therefore he was an idiot, so she'd use small words with him.**

**"I'm sorry, I should've been more careful."**

**"No, clearly you were in the mood to throw something, so you did. That displays how much you know yourself, and how much you give in to temptation."**

**Maho stared at the weirdo.**

**"Some could argue that." Was all she said. She picked up her books and made to leave.**

**"My name is Kakashi, I'd like to learn yours."**

**"Maho."**

**"Okay, Maho, will you walk with me? I'd like to hear what's bothering you."**

**Maho considered. He was reasonably competent, sure, weird, no doubt, perverted, yes, but the two of you could at least discuss lack of plot in the Icha Icha books. **

**"Yes, I'd like that."**

**"I don't know, I guess we just needed a change of things. Iwa was really reluctant to let us move up, we wanted to join black opps again but they didn't let us. Kohona seemed the logical choice, but I don't like the cold."**

**"I guess it is a lot warmer in the desert. Doesn't it get cold at night?"**

**"No, we lived in a valley, the heat stayed in."**

**There was a bell, which made maho's back straighten up. Class in 5. **

**"Class in 5 maho, we should talk later, once you get your team and all."**

**"Okay, good bye."**

**"See ya." Maho ran across the field, down a hall, up a stair case and barely made it through the door when the second bell rang.**

**"Hey Maho, good to see you again." It was Kunerai. She was nice. "You taking this class seems like a joke though."**

**"Tell me about it." Was all Maho said as she took a seat between Maho and Temari.**

**"Ciao, neymache shta?" Mori asked.**

**"Later." Maho replied, determined to pay attention this class.**


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the third, the 2nd was a bit short, SRRY!

My brother read this, he thinks I'm crazy. Oh well, hopefully you like it:3

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"Are you sure he's coming?"

"He said he'd come. Are you sure Gaara's coming?"

"He said he'd come."

Maho and Kankuro stood on either side of a small alley, leaning against the walls. The cold made their breath come out in wispy clouds and made their craving for hot coffee even stronger.

"This sucks. It's too cold." Maho whined looking up the street for her brother.

"yeah, you want to go now?" Kankuro asked. He was actually a nice guy, regardless of his reputation for being a pervert. He'd never hit on Maho or even looked down her shirt because he cared about Maho as a friend, which is why they were seen together all the time.

"Nah, let's give them five minutes." Maho took a cigarette out from seemingly no where and lit up.

"That's a dirty habit." Kankuro frowned. Ever since he'd been hanging out with Maho he felt this brotherly urge to protect her, which was completely absurd because Maho could kick his ass any day. It still made him feel better when he knew where she was.

"There they are," Maho said absently, putting out her cigarette. Mori and Gaara were walking silently down the street. It started to gently rain as they finally were face to face with their siblings.

"Ready?" Mori asked, not slowing his pace as his sister fell into line next to him and Gaara.

"Sorry we're late." Mori offered, knowing that no one would listen to him. Kankuro was off in his own world, he was humming actually and Maho was talking to Gaara. No matter how much she tried, she never got him to speak more than a few words at a time. Maho didn't seem to notice, claiming he was a 'good listener'.

"Then this girl beside me said, 'If you know what's good for you, you won't talk to him anymore' and I just smiled at her because I felt bad, Gaara, she's so clueless, that guy doesn't give a shit about her and she acts like he belongs to her. I feel bad for both of them actually, lots of girls feel that way about him, he must get annoyed."

"he deserves it, he's a selfish prick who left his village to get more power."

"What he deserves is a second chance. He could be really great, but he does choose his own destiny. I hope he doesn't go looking for his brother."

"hmm." Garra replied. "You're short. I haven't noticed it until now, but you're actually very little."

"Little Maho."

"Yeah, you are short, how tall are you?"

"Tall enough to-"

"Chill, Maho. We're here, what do you want anyway."

"Something hot."

"That narrows it down."

"Lots of sugar."

Pearly white swirls hit the window of the Hokage's office. Tsunade sighed and stamped the sheet of paper in front of her.

"That should make an interesting team." Shizune said.

"I hope so, Mori and Maho will have to deal with being split up."

"Who did you put them with again?"

"Team 6 will be Maho, Sai and Neji. Team 9 will be Mori, Sasuke and Tenten."

"What about Lee?"

"He's become his sensei's partner now that he's chunnin."

"I'm sure that the teams will do well together, Maho's team has a spotless track record and Mori's lack of offensive power will be made up by Tenten."

"We'll see. I'll tell them when they go back to school on Monday. I wonder how their first week went."

"I wonder whose team we're on," Maho thought out loud. She swirled the sugary dregs of her coffee around, debating whether she was done or not.

"Done?" Kankuro asked her.

"Yeah."

"I bet we're not together."

"I bet you have a girl on your team."

"Who's going to teach us?"

"It better not be that weapon-blockhead"

"I think we're boring him." Mori said, pointing at Kankuro who was staring blankly ahead.

"Where'd Gaara go?"

"He ditched us. Why do you care so much, somebody have a little crush?"

"Go to hell. I wish it was you who'd left."

"So harsh. Where're you going?"

"Home."

"I'll walk you. See you in class, Kankuro" Mori ran out to find his sister waiting for him.

"Let's run, it's cold."

"Let's not, you can wear my jacket." Mori gave her his coat and Maho took it, despite it being far too large for her. They walked in silence for a while. It had stopped raining but the ground hadn't soaked up the water yet.

"What do you think of it? Here I mean." Maho asked.

"I don't know. It's quiet I guess. There's not much to do without missions." More silence. Maho had a knowing grin on her face which her brother rolled his eyes at. "Why don't you ask me what you really want to know." Maho laughed.

"I don't know, what do you think of our new friends?"

"You mean all three of them?"

"We don't need to be popular."

"I like them."

"There's a shocker."

"Shut up."

"You know Tenten?"

"Yeah."

"I think she has the hots for you."

"Think so?"

"Yeah, she's tall."

"Not really."

"She's taller than me."

"So's everyone else."

"Shut up."

"I think that broody guy with the fan-girls likes you."

"I hope not."

"Why? See someone else?"

"Maybe."

"Gaara?"

"Perhaps. Not like I'm telling you." The sun peaked through some burned off clouds. Their home was about 100 m away.

"Yay, home! Where do you think he went?"

"Gaara? Don't know. He's weird like that."

"I think you like him."

"You are entitled to your own opinion."

"This is where you say 'how'd you know I liked him?' or 'oh my god, I so don't like him, what made you think that?" Mori mocked in a high pitched voice. No response from his sister. "You wanna know why?"

"Why what?"

"Why I think you like him."

"No."

"I saw you."

"Saw me what."

"Saw the two of you."

"You're stupid."

"I saw you guys! You were holding hands! That means you like each other."

"I hold your hand! What does that mean?"

"It's different, I'm your brother."

"No it's not, you are both my friends."

"What're you making for dinner."

"You can make your own fucking dinner."


	4. Chapter 4

"...and Kakashi will be your mentor. If you have any questions, need anything or want help with something, go to him."

Maho stared at the Hokage, standing with her two team mates who were obscenely taller than her. Neji and Sai, stoic and strong. They would work perfectly together.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Neji said. The three of them bowed and left her office.

"You are from Iwa, right?" Neji asked Maho. She nodded. The three of them stood awkwardly around the front of the building with "FIRE" written on it, visible from miles away. "Then how come I remember you? You were friends with my cousin when we were younger."

"I was here, until I was eight, then I left." Maho said. She didn't like answering questions, and Neji seemed to be full of them. His white eyes bored into her, searching for his answers for his questions. She sighed and turned to walk away.

"What time should we meet tomorrow?" Maho called back. Sai was watching her, but not really looking at her. He seemed to only want to pay attention to things he had to know, like where to train and he had no interest about Neji and Maho blabbing about the past.

"Hyuuga Compound, 6." Neji called. Maho nodded and kept walking. She had somewhere to go.

"Don't we get a sensei?" Tenten asked. She was scared enough of not being with either of her former team mates and the prospect of the three of them being alone was frightening.

"No. You do have a mentor though, who you can go to at any time if you need help. Let's see, you can have Gai if you like."

"Gai has no ninjutsu skills." Sasuke stated. He was happy, as far as he could tell, because he had a new team, he wouldn't be stuck with Naruto or Sakura anymore.

"Okay, how about Shizune?"

"She sounds fine. Thank you, Hokage-sama." Tenten said.

"Okay, I'll have a mission for you by next week, be ready!"

The three of them left the office and were standing around, sizing each other up. 'So this is Sasuke.' Mori thought. He knew he wouldn't be able to beat him, but Sasuke would be the one bringing the group down.

"So you guys seem to have offensive skills down, what about defensive or gen-jutsu stuff?" Mori asked his new partners.

"I'm not good at gen-jutstu, I only know weapon jutsus."

"I know a few things." Sasuke said, his statement completely worthless to Mori.

"Great," Mori said quietly. "I've got to be somewhere now, where should we meet to train tomorrow?" He asked.

"Let's meet at the academy, we can go to the forest after."

"When?" Sasuke asked.

"Six?" Mori offered. They seemed fine with this proposal and all went their separate ways.

'Wow.' Maho thought to herself. Kankuro had come over to her house, sweaty and dirty so she made him take a shower. He stood in front of her, naked as she pointed to a pile of towels on the dresser next to him. She left her room and went downstairs to make dinner, her brother should be home soon anyway.

"Do you like fish?" She asked Kankuro as he came down the stairs.

"Yeah, but we never eat it in Suna."

"That's true." Maho said.

"Are you making fish stew?"

"Kind of, I don't know what I call it, but it's thick and salty and fattening. It's the shit." Maho said, dumping 3 cups of fat milk into the bubbling pot.

"Sounds good to me. So where's Gaara?"

"How should I know, he's your brother."

"He's your boyfriend."

"No he's not. You're a complete idiot."

"Were you checking me out upstairs?"

"No. Don't flatter yourself." Maho turned around now, to appear busy with the stew thingy but she only wanted to hide her face from Kankuro. Her blush crept up her face and she cursed it for all it was worth. Yes, she was checking Kankuro out. How creepy is that?

"You're totally lying."

"Whatever. Where's your sister?" Maho said, changing topics.

"Her and Gaara are in Suna for two weeks."

"Then why did you ask me where Gaara was?"

"I wanted to know if he told you or not."

"I see. There he is. Mori, get your ass seated, I made you food." Mori closed the door behind him. He was panting from running as he slid off his shoes and sat next to Kankuro at their table.

"Why do you smell like my sister?" Mori asked.

"He took a shower in my bathroom."

"He could've used mine."

"She wanted to see me naked."

"Yes I did. That's exactly right. Kankuro, use a spoon."

"I can't help it. I don't know what it is about this stuff."

"It was made by an angel, that's why it's so good."

"You guys suck."

"Not as much as you."

"Keep talking like that, see where you'll end up." She threatened Mori. He shrugged his shoulders. "So who's on your team?"

"I've got Tenten and Sasuke. They seriously lack any skill other than offensive stuff, nothing whatsoever. It'll be a lot of work for me."

"I've got Neji. Do you remember him? He's a Hyuuga, he's got those eyes that see through stuff and what not. He'll be awesome to have around. And I've got this other guy, his name is Sai, who is really weird and he's a pervert but he's crazy good and can do any range attacks."

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah, they'll be great."

"I mean do you want to,"

"You're sick. I'm going to bed. I have to wake up at six and I haven't done that for a while." She dumped her empty bowl into the sink and shimmied up the stairs. "You got to bed soon too, Mori." She said, finally up the stairs and out of sight.

"One of them must be really good looking." Mori said to Kankuro. "Did my sister actually see you naked?"

"Yeah." Mori laughed.

"What was her face like?! She must have been really embarrassed."

"I honestly don't think she cares. I was just joking. She has the hots for my brother, you know."

"Of course I know, how could I not know. Have you seen them hold hands?"

"Have you seen them kiss?"

"No. They've kissed?" Mori asked, he suddenly looked alarmed. Kankuro nodded and polished off his meal.

"Yep. They're probably fucking by now."

"Gaara likes her back?"

"Yeah. It's weird but I think he does. I should go now, I'm tired. I'll see you later."

"Okay, see ya." Mori said. "Maho has a boy, that's so weird." He said to no one. He put his dish in the sink to and made his way up the stairs to Maho's room. He was greeted by a muffled groan from under her covers when he walked in and sat on her bed.

"Go away." She said.

"If he ever hurts you, you'll tell me, right?" Mori confirmed with his sister. She tore the covers off her face and looked at her brother. He was being brotherly. She loved it.

"Yes." She answered. She still had to make it seem like his protectiveness annoyed her, but it always made her feel loved.

"See you tomorrow." Mori said. He left her room and went into his own.


	5. Chapter 5

This is where I question my rating. It's mostly pillow talk stuff, but there's innuendo, so if you're not comfy with that then I suggest you go re-read the last few chapters.

Anyway, here it is.

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His eyes were closed, his breathing was deep and his skin felt like warm milk beneath her fingers. Her eyes were open, watching him and her hands were rubbing and skimming seemingly of their own accord because she was staring at his mouth.

"So this is a man," Maho whispered, playing with Gaara's hair. She took in his body, from his flat, sinewy chest to his thighs and meat of his calves. He felt her watching him and smirked when she kissed him under his chin. "I don't love you." She said.

"I wish I could love you." Was Gaara's reply. Maho sighed and slid on her panties that she found on the other side of Gaara. He turned his head in her direction, eyes still closed and kissed her temple. "I don't want you to go," He said.

"I'll wait a bit longer." Maho said to him. He opened his eyes to look at her. She was just as beautiful naked as he had imagined for the past month. She didn't have a body like the girls he saw on Kankuro's magazines but like the other female ninja he'd seen. She was streamline and small with narrow hips and a large chest. Child birth, he noted, would be difficult once her time came. "I never want children." She said dramatically spreading her arms for effect. "I'd be a terrible mother and my kids would hate me for making them eat so much fish."

"You would be a terrible mother." Gaara nodded and pulled Maho closer to him. She felt tentative, being held against him possessively but sunk into him after a moment. She pressed her nose against his collar bone. "Do you never take off your bracelets?" He asked her, thumbing them with his one hand, his other was dragging its fingers up and down her spine.

"Nope."

"Why do they mean that much to you?"

"Each one is someone I loved who's gone."

"Who's green?"

"My younger brother, Koyuki. He died when he was nine, got very sick."

"Red?"

"Kashikari, he was my black opps partner for two years."

"Yellow?"

"A friend of mine, he's not dead, he just left me."

"Why?"

"Is this an interview?"

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not, but thanks for pretending."

"You're welcome." It was darker now, around six. They had started in Gaara's living room on the floor at two, with the sun streaking through the blinds and the floor rug burning Maho's back. An hour or two later they made their way into his room and got lost on his rarely used mattress. Now they were here, holding each other and talking as if nothing had happened. To them, nothing had happened, they just gave in to their embarrassing human desires. They had sex. They did not make love, they couldn't. "Do you think you will love me one day?" He asked her.

"Do you think you'll love me?" She countered. His blue-green eyes met her dark ones and there they saw not passion, but a yearning for passion.

"I can't tell."

"Neither can I." She scratched her pink back and kissed Gaara again.


	6. Chapter 6

Here I'm setting the scene for a few things to happen, hope you like, no Gaara though. (

Btw I'm open to suggestions for how the story should go on? Andie? Any thoughts? Maybe your mom has some ideas? I should have asked her last night.

000000000000000000000000000

"Hey Tenten!"

"Hi Kiba."

"What's wrong?"

"nothing I guess."

"Nervous about your new team?"

"Totally."

"Me too. Who do you have?"

"Sasuke and Mori."

"Mori?"

"He's new. He does earth jutsus and is good with medicinal justus. He has a twin sister, Maho, too."

"I know her. She's a bitch."

"Is she? What did you do to her!" Tenten giggled and nearly fell off the picnic bench she was perched on.

"Nothing!" Tenten frowned at him.

"You didn't bother her with your bragging or anything?"

"No! I swear! I told her she was pretty and she told me to screw off!"

"Maybe she's was just moody, but she does seem sort of weird. Even Neji said so."

"She's really weird. I heard they lived here for a few years a while back."

"Yeah, Mori said that." A bell rang; the first class of the day would start in 5 minutes.

"Tenten! Let's go!" Mori yelled at her from across the yard.

"See you, Kiba." Tenten grabbed her bag and walked over to meet Mori. "Hey,"

"Hey."

"Where's your sister?"

"She has that mentoring thing going on this block."

"When do we have ours?"

"Next class." They took seats next to each other in Asuma's class and waited for the end to come.

00000000000000000000000000000000

"This is a test I give to all of my teams. I can't send you back to be an Academy student since you are technically not under my jurisdiction, but I won't have much faith in you if you don't pass."

"What's the test?" Neji asked. He shifted his weight on his other leg and sighed. IT was very cold and he rather be running or something so his balls didn't freeze off. Kakashi was waiting for Maho to stop talking to Sai before he answered the question.

"I've counted, we've only got 5 more of each class left, then 3 months of mentoring and supervising blah blah and then we're free. There better be..."

"Shut up." Neji said exasperated. Maho stopped talking and her eyes shifted from Neji to her sensei and she realized that she should be listening.

"The test is simple. I've been informed that one of you three is needed to baby sit Konohomaru tonight. The one who can't get one of these two bells will have to do it." Sai's eyes widened, Neji looked confused and Maho wore a blank look on her face.

"Okay," She said, "When do we start?"

"Now." Kakashi took a few steps back, hooked the bells to his belt loop and began reading Maho's copy of the latest Icha Icha book.

"This seems strange." Neji whispered.

"Very."

"Indeed." Their voices were hushed as they spoke to each other, leaning in so their sensei wouldn't hear.

"He definitely has an alterative motive." Sai said.

"We're being forced to work on our own."

"Exactly, not as a team." Neji said. Maho smirked knowing her team would work out after all; they were damn smart.

"Hey! We're not going to try and get bells, we'd like to baby sit together." Neji yelled at Kakashi. He looked up from his book, his visible eyebrow cocked.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked.

"Believe it!" Maho laughed, but she was the only one.

"Well done. Teamwork; you all have a strong sense of it." He put his book back and smiled at his team through his mask. "Now, there are a few things I need to ask you three. Why I was told to ask you these questions and discuss them with you is so that we can learn about each other and forge a relationship quickly. Please sit down."

"My ass is going to freeze off." Maho stated calmly.

"You can sit in my lap." Said Neji. Once everyone was settled and more or less comfortable, Kakashi began to speak again.

"Okay, first question: why do you fight?" He looked at Neji to answer first.

"Because I have a name to live up to and a village to protect" Neji said.

"Because I'm told to." Sai answered without hesitation.

"It passes the time."

"Anything else?" Maho shrugged her left shoulder.

"Maybe I do it so that others don't have to."

"Good. Next one: who is precious to you? Maho, why don't you go first."

"My brother and my comrades."

"My comrades."

"My comrades."

"Okay, this is the last one, they we can go back to the school and defrost our asses. What is your weakness? Sai?"

"I cannot communicate well with other people."

"That's true. Neji?"

"I can be cold towards others."

"Okay, similar problem to Sai."

"I have lots of weaknesses! I can't name them all!" Maho said.

"Start with the first few that come to mind, then." Kakashi looked intently at Maho who thought without much difficulty.

"I expect too much from others, I can't cook anything except fish, I take too long in the shower, I live off of instant gratification, I always get caught, I slip off wet tree branches and I can't swim."

"Okay, those were-telling. This was good, we didn't take that long. Let's go back now." The four of them walked through the small drifts of snow back to the school.

"Lemme ride on your back, Sai." Maho lept onto sai's back, and held on to his shoulders as they slowly walked back. She kept talking, about what, Sai didn't know, he tuned her out a while ago, but Neji was patiently listening as she struggled to find her words. "There were about-uh, four or five of us, and it took us, like three days to quarry the rocks for it and there were. Who's there, Neji?" He had his byakugan activated and stood stiffly in anticipation. The four of them watched him for a minute or two before he deactivated and shook his head.

"It's nothing." He said.

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Mori and Sasuke were sitting at Mori's table playing cards. Temari and Maho were busy yelling and giggling and talking excitedly upstairs in Maho's room.

"It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Training Camp only lasted two months, now it's over, we can finally start training seriously and they throw this on us?"

"It's stupid. I can't believe they're making everyone go."

"Losers." Mori and Sasuke said the last bit togheter. They exchanged grins and reflected on how lucky they were. Sure, they would too have to go to the banquet, but between the two of them, they had been asked by every girl to go with them. Tenten was the most hatted girl in Kohona right now because she was the girl who would spend countless hours with the two hottest guys in the country. Mori and Sasuke were lucky, that was for certain.

"Who are you taking, anyway?" Mori asked casually, laying down his 8 of hearts. "Change to clubs."

"Tenten. I didn't want anyone who would think it's a date. Change to spades." Sasuke laid down his 8 of clubs.

"Good call."

"And you?"

"I'm taking my sister."

"Wow, so you got a hottie?"

"Don't let GAARA hear you!" Mori yelled at the roof hoping his sister would get all huffy.

"Are they seriously..."

"What?"

"...you know."

"Yeah, I think so. How'd you know?"

"Everyone talks about it. All the girls do, anyway."

"no way."

"I'm serious, except for tenten and temari, well, maybe hinata too, every girl hates your sister. Most of the guys do too."

"Kiba was ranting about her yesterday."

"I heard, he's loud." Sasuke laid down his last card, a 4 of spades. Mori picked the surrounding debris of cards and shuffled for another game.

"I'm going to fucking cut out your balls and shove them down your throat if you keep doing that, Mor."

"All in good fun, Maho."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it! Yebash sha menckos strraveo!" Maho stomped back up the stairs where she continued to girl talk with Temari.

"Fine! She's your mom too!" Mori yelled up at her.

"What's that you're speaking?" Sasuke asked.

"It's Tailish. Our clan spoke it and our dad taught us. We're the only ones who speak it now, so we still talk in it sometimes.


	7. Chapter 7

I hope to write another one tomorrow, these things take like 45 mins, nothing much, really, this one's a little weird. I promise that MAHO will have sex next chapter though, I've definitely decided that. This chapter is lovingly dedicated to a certain tasty mother: thanks for working so hard for such little money, now lick it clean.

Enjoy! 3

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"Ino!"

"Hey Sakura."

"Guess who I just saw?"

"Who?"

"Guess!"

"Sasuke?"

"He brought Tenten to the banquet!"

"Oh, well, that's a relief, I thought he'd bring Maho."

"Is there anyone who doesn't like her? Kiba keeps tripping all over himself trying to get her attention."

"Shikamaru and Choji said I was prettier, they don't have a thing for her. Just Sasuke and Gaara do"

"Oh my god, yeah, I can't believe that they're together, it's so weird seeing Gaara be all affectionate and stuff."

"Yep. Where's Kankuro?"

"Not here yet, he's coming with his sister."

"Gaara too?"

"Maho said he wasn't coming, he's in Suna right now, and he's not gonna be back until late."

"Sit down here, I think we're starting soon. I'm so glad training camp is over now."

"Totally," Sakura pulled out the seat next to Ino and sat down. Sai sat obediently on the other side of Ino, waiting for Maho to come so he could show her what he drew. Slowly, people began to drift into their seats, all of the Kohona shinobi who finished their last "training camp" session were there, waiting for the night to be over so they could go home and sleep. Tomorrow, teams would set out training, maybe go on a mission, but they would finally go out on their own, no more boring classes about the trajectory of a spear in low friction environments.

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"Hey Sai." Maho said, slipping into her seat. Her brother sat next to her and the caterers started to serve food.

"Leave it to Maho to come dressed like that." Ino whispered to Sakura. Where all of the girls had spent time picking out dresses or kimonos, Maho showed up wearing one of her short black skirts and a long sleeved t-shirt that could easily have belonged to either guy sitting beside her.

"I want to show you something," Sai said. He looked nervous, and stood up from the table, motioning Maho to follow him.

"Maho, what are you doing?" Ino asked her. She thought she was trying to swindle Sai, and after how long it took her to get him to come with her, she wasn't going to let her. It was too late before she realized that they were on the same team, so it was natural for them to want to talk to each other. Maho shrugged and pointed at Sai.

"He wants to talk." She offered and she left with Sai to go outside on the patio with him. "What is it, Sai?" She asked. It was highly unusual for him to need to talk with someone this badly.

"A few things. First, I drew this for you, don't look at it until later though."

"Thanks Sai. I'm sure it's beautiful as always. What else is there?" Sai wiped his hands on his pants and then ran them through his coarse short hair.

"W-when I look at-" Sai started.

"Ino?" Maho offered.

"When I look at Ino, I start sweating and I want to smell her and I want her to touch me."

"Okay."

"She's wearing something, like a perfume that works on my eyes too, it makes me look at her, would you tell her to stop?"

"She's not wearing anything"

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing, you just want to be with her."

"No."

"Yes, you have the hots for Ino, just tell her."

"How?"

"Tell her what you told me."

"I start sweating."

"Kind of, you need to phrase it better. Listen, say this, 'When I look at you, Ino, I start sweating and I want to smell you and I want to be with you.', she'll love that."

"I didn't say those things though."

"So? It's a little tweaking, I'm sure you mean all that too." Sai frowned and started at the floor. Maho had sympathy for him, this must be his first time liking someone this way.

"have you ever felt this way?" Sai asked in a near whisper. When Maho didn't respond, he looked up and dark eyes met, conveying understanding. "I see. Thank you, Maho. I'm glad we're friends." Maho gave him a quick hug and leaned back to smile at her team mate.

"Gaara should be back by now," Kankuro said from the door between the inside and the outside. "He'll be in your room no doubt."

"My room?"

"Yup." Maho nodded and clapped Sai's shoulder. She jumped from the balcony and dashed home.

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Maho narrowed her eyes, feeling unfamiliar chakra as she ran home. It was no doubt some guard wandering late, waiting for their shift to end. She still felt uneasy as she climbed her stairs.

"you're back early." She said, closing the door of her room behind her. She shimmied out of her skirt to change into a pair of Kankuro's black comfy-as-clouds pants she stole last time she slept over at his place. Gaara sat on her bed, sitting on his hands, watching her as she got ready to go to sleep. He heard water run in her bathroom and he shut his eyes waiting for her. When he felt breath on his face and a body in his lap he opened his eyes again. He couldn't find his words as they sat there, looking at each other, his aqua eyes looked hurt and confused as they locked with Maho's wet dark eyes. "What am I to you?" she asked. Her voice was loud and it shocked Gaara back from his laziness. "You keep leaving, why are you hiding from me?" She asked. Gaara wiped her cold tears off her cheek with the back of his hand. She didn't break eye contact.

"I'm in love with you, Maho." He said. She cried harder and stifled a sob.

"Don't lie to me to make me feel better! Tell me why! Why are you hiding?" Gaara's heart beat faster, he was starting to anger from being trapped into giving away his secret.

"I'm scared." He said quietly. "Scarred we'll hurt each other." He looked down until he realized he was staring right at her crotch then he looked up again, avoiding her gaze.

"Aren't we worth it? Isn't this worth it? We can deal with it, Gaara, we don't have to be scared."

"I lied."

"I know you did."

"It's hard for me to tell."

"I don't mind."

"Is it hard for you too?"

"When it happens I know. I can feel it here." She said pointing to a spot right above her naval. She got off his lap and made her way downstairs. He followed, not knowing what she was doing. She put water on to boil, she was making tea. "I don't want you to stay, Gaara, I don't want you around right now, you're making me cry." He nodded and left, her eyes watching him leave. He could hear crying for a good 15 seconds before he broke into a run to get away.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry this one took so long! I could give you a list of excuses, but I won't waste my time. Hope you like it, and if you think I'm a predictable person, THINK AGAIN, BITCH.

Sorry for the bitch part, it just looks really good on my screen!

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Neji, Sai and Maho stood outside the Hokage's office. Naruto was in there, and cries of "that's not fair, Dattebayo!" and "Granny Tsunade!" could be heard.

"He's always like that?" Maho asked. Her team mates nodded and waited solemnly for them to recieve their mission. The door opened and an angry Naruto burst out and ran down the hall, a tired looking Sakura followed.

"I didn't see you at that banquet thing, did you skip it?" Neji asked her as they walked slowly in to the round office.

"I was there at the start, but I left before everyone ate. I felt like going home. Sai, how was it?"

"Ino hates me." He flashed his signature phoney smile. "I told her something she didn't like and she slapped me. I had good dumplings."

"That's, uh, better luck next time." Maho said.

"Alright, so, team 9, I need you to break you up for a bit. I need Maho to do some escorting and guiding to a delegate from another village in preparation for the exams. Don't roll you eyes at me, you guys have been getting a lot of big missions lately, it's time you took on an easy one and learned that you aren't always together."

"I don't see why Maho needs to be the one to escort the delegate, that's a job for a genin." Neji said. Maho smirked, impressed that he would be sad to have her leave the group for even a week. It had been a month or so since their team got formed, and the three of them had come to a serene understanding of each other, though friendship was a long way off.

"I need someone with more common sense than a 12 year old to be a guide! This is an important assignment! Maho will be representing the village! Neji and Sai, you will join Shino and Kiba on their mission. They're waiting at the gate, they'll brief you once you get there." Neji and Sai bowed and walked out of the office. Maho sighed and crossed her arms. "Shizune! Could you ask him to come in now?" Shizune also bowed and left the office. "Maho, I'd like to say how impressed I am with your work so far. I hadn't met you before six months ago, but with the rumors I heard of you, I assumed you would be great, and you have met my expectations." Maho raised her eyebrows.

"Wow, thanks. I hope I continue to impress you. Who am I escorting?"

"A special jounin from star village. He's rather cute too!" Tsunade giggled (and if this were an anime, Maho would have 'sweat dropped') as the door opened. Maho turned around to see shizune and who she assumed was the Star nin. "MAHO! This is Sumaru, you'll be his guide while he's in the village. Answer his questions, show him his hotel and help him as much as you can! You may leave." She threw something to Maho. Maho caught it, but it was thrown with such strength that it purpled the palm of her hand. She sighed and glanced over the itinerary and looked up at Sumaru. He smiled.

"Okay, let's go then." Maho said, walking towards the door and motioning him to follow her.

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"Thanks for taking me around, I'm sure you had better things to do today." Sumaru walked beside Maho on a lesser street in Kohona. She decided to take him to go up close to the stone faces Kohona was famed for. It was like she were a tourist herself almost.

"What, like train? I'm glad to have an excuse to just walk all day." She put her hands behind her head. "You're tall," She said, marvelling at the vertical distance he could achieve. He laughed.

"Not really, I suppose I'm taller than some, but you are-"

"Don't say it, I know I'm short. I haven't grown any taller in three years." She put her hands in her pockets. "If we see each other next exams, I'll be taller, I swear."

"So, a pretty girl like you must have a boyfriend, what's his name?" Sumaru asked. Maho laughed.

"Well, his name's Gaara, but I don't know if he's my boyfriend." Sumaru looked confused. "I mean, we like each other and all, but it's hard. Plus he lives in Suna and I live here."

"Gaara," Sumaru repeated. "Did you hear? He's Kazekage now, they decided last week. It's really impressive, you know, he's so young and I didn't blah blah blah" Maho stopped listening and her heart sank somewhere near her liver. Gaara was Kazekage. He would never come back for her now. She stopped walking.

"Uh, Sumaru," She interrupted. "Listen, I'm not feeling so well, can I walk you back to your hotel and we'll go see the mountain tomorrow?" She spoke quietly because her throat felt close. She felt like she was going to explode, but she wasn't angry, just sad.

"Yeah, you go home now, I know where the hotel is in relation to here. I'm going to keep walking for a while."

"Okay, I'll pick you up at ten, we can sleep in."

"Good idea. See you tomorrow." Maho turned and ran, gaining momentum to jump up on the roofs of the village. She ran home, hopefully her brother was there.

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"Mori? You here?" Maho closed the door behind her, slid out of her shoes and flung herself onto her couch. She rested her head on a sort of pillow, nice and firm and warm. Oh, pillows aren't warm. She looked up to see Neji's face looking down at her. She sat up from his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sad." She said. Neji put his arm around her and pet her head as his shoulder became wetter and wetter.

"Mori's gone on a mission, all week. He told me to come here and stay with you. He heard about Gaara and figured."

"Weren't you on a mission?"

"Kiba and I stayed, they didn't need us. Speaking of which, he's here too." Maho heard steps coming down her stairs and she sat up. Wiping her eyes with her wrist, she looked up to see Kiba.

"Hey!" He said. He was wet, he must have been taking a shower.

"Hey, where's Akamaru?" Maho asked. Her and Kiba had sorted things out weeks ago, they were on good terms, but everyone still thought that they hated each other.

"Upstairs, he might even be in your room, actually." Kiba frowned and started up the stairs.

"It's okay, I don't care."

"AKAMARU! COME DOWN HERE, YOU MUTT. MAHO WANTS TO SEE YOU!" Kiba hollered up the stairs. Maho cringed but she soon heard the pitter patter of puppy paws on hardwood. Akamaru ran down the stairs and leapt into Maho's lap. Her face flushed and she wrenched a pair of red panties out of his mouth.

"Pervert," She muttered and she put them in her pocket. Kiba suppressed a laugh, but Neji was unsuccessful. "Fine, laugh about it, it's funny. Ha ha. Are you guys hungry? Do you like fish?" She asked skipping over to her kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a whole mackerel.

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"Bye Kiba, see you later! And buh bye Akamaru! Next time you're over you aren't allowed upstairs, buddy."

"See you guys!" Kiba said, waving. "Let's go, Akamaru." Neji closed the door and leaned against it.

"Come upstairs with me, you're gonna sleep in my room."

"Why?"

"Because, you have to." Neji sighed and reluctantly followed her up the stairs. He sat on her bed and read while she took a shower. "Whatcha reading?" She asked, rubbing her head with a towel. She flopped beside him and he looked up. He gave her the book and leaned against the wall the bed was pushed up against. "Oh," Maho said quietly.

"You said, 'you can read whatever you like'."

"That's true."

"I didn't know that girls read those too."

"Well, I guess I do. They're really, uh, unique." She threw the embarrassing book in question back on its shelf. He took off his shirt and was about to get up, it was late and he wanted to sleep. "Are you with Tenten?" She asked him, raking her hair with her hands.

"No, what made you think that?" Maho shrugged.

"You were on the same team, if it were me, I would have liked you."

"Funny you say that because you are exactly in Tenten's position now." Maho's eyes widened.

"hmm." Damn, he was right.

"Tell me, Maho." He turned to look at her. Their eyes met and in that instant they knew. "Do you find me attr-" Maho couldn't hold back any longer. She threw herself at Neji and he caught her in anticipation. He opened his mouth when she begged to be let in and she ran her fingers through his long hair. He laid down with her on top and she frenched him, winding her fingers around the waist of his pants and tugging down.


	9. Chapter 9

Meh. I could give you a bunch of excuses; christmas season had me down, my 'artist spats' I went through in december, or the fact that I was too lazy to copy the words from my journal to the computer.

But I'll save you the grief.

Here's it

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On slow days, like today, when it was too cold to train outside and Maho didn't have to play tour guide, she would stay with Shikamaru and talk with him for hours. Mori trained like a fiend with his new team and the Sand siblings had long ago left for Suna. Kankuro sent letters, so did Temari, but one never came from Gaara. So, with no brother, Temar, Gaara or Kankuro, Maho sought companionship with the only konoha nin whose laziness far exceeded hers.

"Have you ever slept with Ino?" Maho asked. She was braiding her hair, sitting cros-legged on Shikamaru's bed as he pondered the question.

"Nope." Maho nodded. Shikamaru watched her and smiled. "Sai or Neji?" He asked, trying without success to keep a smug look off his face. Mhao twitched, she hated it when he out-smarted her. She sighed and flopped down so she was laying on her stomach.

"Neji," She answered. Then she felt compelled to keep going. "But before that I fucked Gaara loads of times. He hasn't sent me a latter since he left. Am I really that awful," She asked.

"No, Gaara doesn't speak much. He's coming with Temari here next week,"

"Yeah, she told me."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm not sure I want to do anything. I'd like to pretend it never happened." Shikamaru scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.

"Neji..." He muttered. "I always thought he was gay."

"You're just jealous of his hair!"

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"Sasuke, come at me faster." Mori was starting to loose the feeling in his extremities. It was way below zero, he was wet with sweat and they'd been here five hours. Sasuke ran, twice as fast as before, but Mori jumped quick enough to avoid him; medic nins are notoriously hard to hit, Mori was a good example of this rule.

"Let's call it a day," Sasuke said. "My balls are freezing off."

"Wanna come over? Maho's probably at that Nara kid's place." Sasuke was breathing heavily and wiped his forehead. "Sure, why not."

"Alright," They walked south towards the village, Mori's house was just a few minutes away from Konoha, not quite in the village.

"So have you eard about your sister?"

"What? No. What did she do now?"

"She did Neji."

"What? They're on the same team? What the hell, that's bad."

"He told me yesterday, he said it waas like a one time thing. They've got to be the first to do that in Konoha's history." Sasuke picked up the pace and kept his chin down to minimize the effects of the cold wind. Mori screwed his face up in thought.

"She definatly still likes Gaara, she's been highstrung since Temari told her they were coming out. But Maho's bothersome to talk about, let's talk about something else. Did they ever figure out whose knife it was?"

"I don't think so."

"They found it the same night as that banquet thing, I wonder if somebody saw anything.They'll want to sort it out before the exams start. Hey Genma, just going to my house" Mori waved at the guards.

"okay guys! See ya." They looked cold and terribly bored.

"What are you doing saturday?" Mori asked Sasuke.

"Nothing. You?"

"We're having this sort of dinner party thing, where everyone eats fish, gets drunk and listens to Maho drunkenly sing and play guitar. You want in?"

"Maho? Drunk? I'll be there."

"Do you like her or something?"

"No, I just like that she's smart, talented, slutty and nice to look at."

"It's a shame, she's quite pretty. But she's not as smart as she lets on, you know, she does some really stupid things."

"You'd have to be stupid to sleep with your team mate. Who else is comming?"

"Uh, you, Kiba, some guy from the star village, Temari, Kankuro, maybe Gaara, who knows, Tenten and Shikamaru. They're all allowed to invite other people so more'll show up."

"No Sakura?"

"Like I said, she could show up. She doesn't like me or my sister though so she'll probably not show up."

"Good, count me in.

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"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

"I am not jealous of his hair, I could care less what he looks like."

"Fine." Maho said. There was a knock on the front door. Maho and Shikamaru listened to Shika's mom greet the visitor and lead them to the hall they were in.

"...For so long, it's very impressive theat you're jounin now, Shikamaru says you haven't lost a battle since you were 13, that's so impressive! Here it is, SHIKAMARU!" Maho wondered who it was.

"Yeah, come in Ma." The door swung open to show a smiling Nara and a surprised Hyuuga.

"Maho," Neji nodded to her, she managed a shaky smile. Shikamaru's lazy words cut through the silence.

"What do you want, Neji?" Shikamaru's mom disapeared and Neji stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Tsunade needs you." Neji said.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru stood up quickly and left through his window.

"Hi." Maho said.

"Hi," Neji said back. "Do you want to come over? We could talk or something." She nodded and silently she walked out with Neji who was talking to her. She didn't take in what he was saying until she heard a word that made her ears prick. 'Forget.'

"...need to forget it happened, for the sake of the team."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." They walked past the 'Lucky Star Motel' and Maho got an idea. "Listen, I've got something I have to do, I'll just see you monday, is that fine?" Neji nodded and held maho's gaze for a bit longer than neccessary before walking off home.

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He he. Woo hoo. Dinner party next chapter, who will show up? -cough- KAZEKAGE -cough cough-

Sorry, cold season. 


	10. Chapter 10

Ici est le chapter finalment. The last one about Maho you'll ever see me write. Frankly, I've gotten bored of her, I'm moving on to better things.

Thanks for reading (it means a lot to me) and enjoy!

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The din of voices wasn't loud enough to drown the soft jazz music coming from somewhere in the house. Dirty bowls with milky residue indicated the end of Maho's seemingly infinite source of fish stew. Lots of people had shown up, not that anyone minded, there was plenty of room and lots to go around. The twins could be found sitting in a camp fire circle. She softly strummed her guitar as she listened to the talk around her.

"...so the knife was just mine! It was too late for me to see the hokage and I just left it on the roof when I cut myself out of those vines." Sumaru, surrounded by what was sure to become his new fan club (ino and sakura...) regaled all with his clumsy tale.

"I love you," "Mmm, I love you too" Tenten and Neji were busy making out on the far end of the circle.

"Never have I ever---uh, been skinny dipping." Shikamaru, Hinata and a few others entertained themselves. Ha, Hinata drank, she's a rebel.

"Maho!" Mori was only slightly tipsy and he crawled over to sit beside his sister. "Let's play a song!" He played the scale on his harmonica and everyone looked at him curiously. "Thanks for coming out to our party, here's a song!" Maho laughed and whispered to her brother. Then she started playing a song and everyone knew that this kind of song meant that someone would be singing. They all hoped it was Maho so that Mori wouldn't embarrass himself too much. (A/N—this song is by badly drawn boy, but it's good, it has a guitar and a harmonica...yay!)

Maho strummed until the strumming became uniform and she sang a little while smiling at her brother.

There's nothing I could say

To make you try to feel ok

And nothing you could do

To stop me feeling the way I do

And if the chance should happen

That I never see you again

Just remember that I'll always love you,

Naruto and Kiba whooped and now everyone had come out of the house to gather around.

I'd be a better person

On the other side I'm sure

You'd find a way to help yourself

And find another door

To shrug off minor incidents

And make us both feel proud

I just wish I could be there

To see you through

Mori's solo came up, and people cheered as he played as if the harmonica were an appendage. Then he stopped for Maho to sing the last part.

You always were the one

To make us stand out in a crowd

Though every once upon a while

Your head was in the cloud

There's nothing you could never do

To ever let me down

And remember that I'll always love you

Her strumming became faster and louder and Mori played the same part with his harmonica. Her hands started to hurt and Mori's lungs were parched, but they kept going and when they stopped from the pain, everyone cheered and laughed and joined the circle—chatting and talking and enjoying the night.

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Later in the night, Maho sat on the roof of her house plucking a few of her guitar strings. There were so many people at her house, and she had so many friends in the village, but she had never been this lonely before. She thought of things that would make her feel better; ice cream, a game of yahtzee, Gaara, petting akamaru, Gaara.

"Ah." She moaned. "I can't stop thinking.." she finished in her head, 'about him.'

She zoned out, eyes fixed on a tree, then she felt feet land on the roof beside her and she knew her brother had come up here to rescue him.

"I'm sorry." She heard. The voice wasn't Mori's—it was Gaara's. (betcha saw that one miles away..) "I didn't write because I didn't think you'd read anything I sent you." Gaara sat down next to Maho. Her back stiffened and she couldn't think of something to say to him; something to express how hurt she felt, how happy she was to hear his voice, how angry she was that they weren't together, and how she never wanted him to leaver her again. Gaara kept speaking. "But now that I see you, it seems you would have read them."

"Of course I would have." She said quietly. She felt herself being pulled closer to him and he buried his head in her hair.

"I want you to come back with me. You'd have to leave your new team, but you could work with Kankuro and Temari. Maho, I don't think I can go back without you with me." Maho didn't say anything; she just sat there, guitar limp in her lap as she took in all Gaara had said.

"I think I love you, Gaara." She said. "I want to come with you." She felt Gaara's grip on her tighten, then slack so much she sank into him.

"I think I love you too." He said, words ruffling her hair.

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Fin

Hope ya liked it. Now you get to decide how it was with Maho.


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